Moments that Changed Our Life
by xxlostxangelxx
Summary: Peyton was a 16 year old student who fell for a 21 year old guy, Lucas. What happens when their world comes crashing down?
1. FlashBack 1

**Characters:  
Peyton Sawyer – 16 year old student**

**Lucas Scott – 21 year old teacher  
Nathan Lee – Peyton's best friend  
Ryan Sawyer – Peyton's brother**

**_FLASHBACK_**

_As Peyton walked into the bowling alley, her eyes began to adjust to the light. She scanned her surroundings looking for her friends. She laughed as she saw them waving crazily at her. She ran over to them not realizing that there was a man who was in her way. She bumped into him and her immediate reaction was to grab hold of him so she didn't fall. It was at this point that she realised that he had got hold of her. She blushed slightly, as they took her hands away from each other._

_"Sorry," she said. "I wasn't looking where I was going."_

_"Oh no," he said. "It was my fault I wasn't concentrating."_

_They both smiled. Despite it being dark Peyton could see his grey eyes sparkling. _

_"Peyton, Peyton. We're over here!" they could both hear her friends calling her._

_"I'd better go," she said, as she made her way towards them, still staring back at him. _

_"Peyton," he whispered under his breath as he walked away smiling. _

_Later that day Peyton was in the local café getting herself a refreshing drink. Just as she opened it she bumped into someone. Her drink had spilt all over her brand new top, she was about to confront the "offender" when she realised that she had met him earlier that day. The both smiled in recognition._

_"Hey," he said coolly. "You're the one from the bowling alley right?"_

_"Yeah," she tried to say as casually as possible without it coming out as a squeak._

_"I'm sorry about you top. Let me buy you a new drink."_

_"Oh no, it's fine." Peyton could feel herself beginning to blush a bright pink._

_"Honestly I insist." He was so sweet Peyton could hardly believe that he was talking to her. "Look here's my name and number in case you would still like to hold me liable for your top." He handed her a bright blue tissue._

_"Lucas Scott," she read aloud. "Well, I'm Peyton. She said Peyton Sawyer." _

_"Well Peyton Sawyer, if you don't want to hold me responsible for your top you can still call me."_

_Peyton could feel herself blushing even more. "Well I'll see you around," she said rushing out before he could see her geeky grin._

_ The next day Peyton was sitting in her bedroom, wondering what it would be like to go out with an older guy. A knock on her door broke her thoughts. _

_"Peyton, Nathan' on the phone for you!" her brother screamed through her door. She sighed; her brother had an irritating habit of yelling around the house. She went into the kitchen to answer the phone. _

_"Hey," she said coolly, but still thinking of her encounter from the afternoon before._

_"Hey Peyton, mum wants to know if your still coming round tonight." Nathan was Peyton's best friend; they had known each other since pre-school. They had been through the ups and downs together._

_"Umm…" she paused, thinking about whether or not she should call him. _

_ "Peyton," Nathan said in a sing song voice. "Are you still there?" _

_"Yes, I'm still here," she said shaking her daydream out of her head. "Can I get back to you?" she said casually._

_"Yeah, sure, talk to you later?" _

_"Bye," she hung up quickly before he got a chance to reply._

_Taking the phone to her room she tried to find the piece of paper with Lucas's number on it. "Where is it? Where is it?" she thought to herself, praying that someone had not found it. Rummaging through her jeans and handbag, she found it right at the bottom of her pocket. Sighing with relief she began to dial the number. Pressing the green button she placed the phone against her ear. It began to ring, it felt as though she had been sitting there for ages._

_"Hello?" was the gentle, kind voice that came down the phone._

_"Lucas, hi, it's Peyton, you know the one from the bowling alley?" she sounded glad to hear his voice, she lay on her bed, with a huge grin on her face._

_"Hi," he said, more comfortable with whom he was talking to._

_"I thought I'd just let you know that I am not going to hold you responsible for my top." She paused as she moved toward her bedroom door to close it. _

_"Oh," he almost sounded disappointed. "At least let me take you out to compensate for your drink if not your top."_

_"No," she replied. "It's fine honestly," even though secretly she was thrilled at the idea. _

_"No, it isn't. I Insist," he said. "What about tonight? I know this great club and it's got great music and an even better atmosphere. Plus it's local"_

_Peyton sat there pretending that she was thinking about it. "Ok," she sighed, pretending that he had forced her into it. She then began thinking of ways to get into a club. In the small town, of Tree Hill, that she lived in there where very few clubs, but all of them were over 18. How was she going to get it? She was only 16!_

_"Okay," he replied. "I'll meet you outside the café at about 8 o'clock?"_

_"Sounds good to me," she answered, checking her watch for the time. It was 2 o'clock she had 6 hours to come up with an excuse of why she was going out. _

_"See you then, bye," and with that he hung up._

_"Bye," she murmured wistfully not realising that he had hung up._

_ Sitting outside the café, praying that no one could see her, Peyton waited for Lucas to arrive. Her curly blonde locks had been carefully and skilfully tied up to make her look older. She had put on some make-up, a black beaded top and a pair of brand new jeans. She also wore a pair of black laced up boots that had belonged to her mother. Checking her watch she realized that she was 5 minutes early. _

_"Please let no-one see me, please let no-one see me," she thought. Everyone on her road knew each other so if she was caught, dressed like she was, sitting by herself at this time of the evening , word would quickly spread back to her family. She became tense as she saw a black car pull up. Was it Lucas? The windows were rolled down and sure enough it was Lucas. She sighed with relief. Checking that nobody was around she got into the car. _

_"Hi," she said._

_"Hey," he replied smiling at her. "Let's get going." She smiled back at him. It felt like one of those old cheesy romantic films that she watched so often. She sat back and relaxed, watching Lucas as he drove them to the club._

_A large crowd had formed outside the club; she could feel herself becoming tense again. What if she didn't get in? She could see people getting turned away. Her face must have shown panic because Lucas slid his hand into hers. She could feel herself begin becoming calm once again, as her heart skipped a beat. _

_Holding Lucas's hand and walking into the club felt like the easiest thing that Peyton had ever done. She began to feel a strange feeling in the depth of her jeans pocket. Placing her free hand over it, she realized that it was her phone. "Damn," she thought. "I forgot to call Nathan!" She could feel herself trembling as she went to answering. As she moved away from Lucas she couldn't stop thinking about what she was going to say. _

_"Hello?" she gulped slowly._

_"Peyton? Peyton, its Nathan. Where are you?"_

_"Umm…" unsure of what she was going to tell him she hung up. She tried to erase the conversation from her head so that she could just enjoy the evening._

_Just like Lucas had said the music and the atmosphere were great, but never the less she still stuck to water, because she was 16, even though Lucas didn't know it. _

_"So what university do you go to?" Lucas yelled over the music._

_Peyton had to think of an answer very quickly. "I'm at NCU, Charlotte, I'm studying Music." She smiled slightly; it was partly true she had done a course there that summer. _

_"Really?" he raised his eyebrows. "That's pretty far, so what are you doing down here in Tree Hill then? It's not reading week already is it?"_

_Peyton froze, "um…I'm just back for a few weeks to visit my family." She quickly tried to change the subject. "So what do you do?"_

_"I'm a teacher, actually. I just moved from Raleigh, because I'm due to be starting a new post in a couple of weeks."_

_"Oh? Which school?" _

_"I'm not sure of the name, but it is somewhere local." It was at this moment Peyton noticed that he looked sad and upset._

_"What's wrong?" She now began to realize that he wasn't genuinely upset; it was just cute puppy dog eyes that always caught her out. She laughed as she stared into his glistening grey eyes. _

_"You're so wonderful," he said. Cupping her face in his hands he lent forward, so his warm lips pressed against hers. Her arms began to wrap around his neck as he pointed up on tiptoes. Slowly they both pulled away from each other but still intertwined._

_"Shame," she laughed. "You're so terrible." She laughed jokingly now pressing her lips against his. She inhaled his warm, musty scent. She was in such a dream, that everything, including the loud music began to fade into the distance. _

_The next day Peyton lay in bed. It was 11:00am and luckily it was a Sunday. The warm sun was beating down on her face. The window was open from when she'd snuck in the night before. She wasn't in a rush to get up because she knew that her grandparents would be waiting to give her a sermon, on her last night's whereabouts. _

_"Peyton, Peyton," she could hear her grandmother calling her. "Peyton, are you awake yet? Ryan, Ryan put on your best clothes or we're going to be late."_

_"What was happening to today," she thought. She got up so she could check her calendar. The date was circled. Sunday 16th May 2009. It was her parents' and sister's death anniversary. A tear trickled down her cheek as she remembered the news of a car crash, six years ago today. All her happiness from the night before slowly began to melt like an ice cream left in the warm summer sun._

_She quickly got dressed leaving her bed unmade. She walked out of the room ready to go to the memorial service that was held every year. When she first saw her brother all smartly dressed in a suit, she ran up to him squeezing him tightly._

_"Promise me Ryan that you will never leave me," she whispered in his ear._

_"I promise," he whispered back. "I promise."_

_Later that afternoon Peyton sat in the café with a mug of steaming hot coffee. She began to reflect over all the things that her parents had missed out on: her first crush, her first boyfriend, her first kiss. She began to feel alone and deserted. No one in the café disturbed her today. They all knew why today was a quiet day for Peyton and the rest of her family. She could hear the bell by the door ringing in the background as it opened and closed. She ignored it just like she was ignoring the chattering around her. She smiled remembering her happy memories from the night before. She could still feel Lucas's hand in hers. She wished that she could have told someone about him, but her best friend would never understand. Her smile slowly began to fade, sipping her coffee quickly she placed her change on the table and headed towards the door. Keeping her head down she could not see where she was going. It was at this point that she bumped into someone. Mumbling the words, "sorry" she continued towards the door. _

_"Peyton?" inquired a voice._

_She looked up to see Lucas; she blinked twice, because she thought she was dreaming. Realizing that wasn't she quickly wiped her tears away._

_"Lucas, Hi," she said cheerfully, even though her eyes told another story. _

**_END OF FLASHBACK_**


	2. Reality 1

Twenty-one year old Peyton Sawyer sat down at the kitchen table, a mug of coffee in one hand and a stack of that morning's post in the other. She placed them both on the table before she made herself comfortable. Sighing as she went through the letters, she was glad that not all of them were for her. There were four for her brother, one for her grandparents and two for her. One was a phone bill and the other was from "Tree Hill county court prison." It had been at least five years since she last received anything from the local prison. She didn't want to open it but she knew that she had to. Something important was going to happen or had happened in order for her to receive a letter like this. Carefully she ripped open the envelope, her hand shaking in the process.

The empty house suddenly didn't feel so empty anymore. She could feel a churning sensation in her stomach, beginning to form, as the memories came flooding back to her. She could still feel his touches, his kisses; she could still hear her loud plea that they were doing the wrong thing and then finally a gush of tears that never seemed to cease. Peyton could feel herself beginning to remember; everything that she had seemed to have forgotten, but everything that she still wanted to remember. She remembered all the love and all the long months of endless lies and secrets. Nevertheless, all she wanted to forget was all she could remember, it was what she _had_ to forget, the hypocrisy. How it was never about the fact that they loved each other, it was just that it was against the law and how he had done something wrong, not them, he. Nevertheless Peyton never forgot that they had created something special, a bond, and a connection: they had created a daughter. She was theirs, their four-year-old daughter, Haley. She lived just like and child should, but a part of her was missing, her father. The front door opened just as Peyton was about to read the letter; she hid it under her seat, like a schoolgirl hiding a passed note from her teacher.

"Peyton?" a male voice called through the house.

"I'm in here," she called back. The sound of quick light footsteps could be heard on the wooden floorboards.

"Mummy, Mummy," it was Haley. Moving toward the sink, Peyton hid the letter in the drawer beneath it so as no one could find it. "Look what I got," smiled her daughter as she spun around the small kitchen, her dress flying up in the air.

"You were not wearing that when you left the house this morning," she commented.

"I know," Haley replied with her usual cheeky grin. "Uncle Ryan and Auntie Brooke bought it for me." She continued to spin around the kitchen. Peyton sighed; her brother and his wife had been married for less than a year, and they dotted on Haley as if she were their own. They acted like the family Peyton had never provided for her daughter. She smiled in acknowledgement at her daughter's new prized possession for the next 10 minutes.

Following her smiling daughter out of the kitchen, they made their way into the next room and sat down on the large beige coloured sofa. Soon Ryan and Brooke followed them. Grabbing the remote control Haley quickly turned the television on and turned it to cartoons. For the next hour the youngest two generations of Sawyers watched cartoons.

At around 3 o'clock the doorbell rang. As far as Peyton knew they were not expecting anyone, but she still scrambled to the door, so that she did not have to watch anymore-unbearable cartoons. The door opened with a whiny creak as Peyton squealed at delight to see her grandparents standing in the doorway.

She squealed with delight, despite the fact she lived with her grandparents she loved seeing them, and couldn't get enough of them.

They had just returned from a month long cruise in the Mediterranean and she had missed them terribly.

Later that evening once the family had re-united and talked about everything that had happened the last month, Peyton went to clean up the kitchen after dinner. Going to the sink she opened up the drawer to get the washing up gloves. As she did she caught sight of the letter sitting in the almost empty drawer. It was still folded in crisp clean folds. It was unread. Forgetting about the dishes she grabbed it and stuffed it into her pocket.

"Come on, Haley" she said quickly avoiding everyone's gaze, so they wouldn't see that she was hiding something.

"But, Mummy," she moaned.

"No, buts, young lady, I've planned a long day for us tomorrow."

"Where are we going?" she asked excitedly, obviously eager to get out of the house.

"I'll explain when you're in bed." In an instant Haley, said goodnight to her great-grandparents, Uncle Ryan and Aunty Brooke. After a long half an hour Haley was finally tucked up in her bed with all her many teddy bears surrounding her.

"Mummy," she asked. "What are we doing tomorrow?" A number of thoughts spun through young Haley's mind. Peyton rarely organized things for both of them to go because she always seemed busy, however when she did Haley would remember them as the best day of her life until the next one came along.

"I thought we would visit _you're _Nanny and Grandpa," she said. "And _you're_ Aunty Haley. Would you like to do that?" Haley gave a confused look.

"Nanny and Grandpa live with us, so why do we have to visit them," she said, obviously not realising the emphasis on the 'you're'. "And I don't have an Aunty Haley. I have Aunty Brooke and that's it."

Peyton shook her head. "You do have an Aunty Haley and she's the reason you're called Haley." She paused, "Plus that's your Great-Nanny and Great-Grandpa that live with us. You're Nanny, Grandpa and Aunty Haley live in Heaven, with all the angels. But tomorrow if we go to the church they might come down to say 'hello' to us."

The inquisitive 4-year-old thought for a moment before she answered, "But why don't they live with us?"

"You," Peyton said. "Ask too many questions. Now go to sleep and I might tell you in the morning."

"But I want to know now," she whined.

"You are as stubborn as –," she broke of not wanting to bring up another topic close to her heart. She felt tears well up in her eyes and her throat beginning to close up with the memory of her dead parents and sister, as well as her lover. Her older lover, who went to prison for her, the one who she hadn't had contact with for over 5 years, the one whose child she had carried for nine months, the one whose letter was in her pocket. She gasped remembering the letter as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Quickly she tucked her daughter in and turned off the light. She headed straight for her room and un-crumpled the letter.

_Dear Ms Sawyer,_

_We are writing to inform you that on Friday 1st August 2008, Mr Lucas Scott shall be released from Tree Hill County Court Prison. He shall be residing at a local residence so he can follow his parole orders, which he will be following for the next 6 months. If this causes you any concern or distress, please do not hesitate to contact as soon as possible, preferably before Mr Scott's release date._

_Police Constable Kole_

Her hands shook as she read the letter, the words spun around in her head. What was she suppose to do? She loved Lucas, but she hadn't seen or heard from him since the day he got sent to prison, the day she stood up in court and took the blame. Suddenly the floorboards began to creak as her family walked around the large 4-bedroom bungalow.

"Mummy," she heard a tiny cry some from the slightly open door. She jumped at the sound, looking up she saw Haley in the doorway in her pink flannel pyjamas and her blue rabbit gripped tightly in one hand. Peyton remembered the rabbit; Lucas had won it for her at a carnival. It had sat on her bed for a few years until Haley had found it and never returned it.

"What wrong Hun?" she asked.

"Is daddy in heaven with the rest of them?" she asked, wide-eyed, obviously not wanting to go to sleep. Haley clambered onto her mother's large double bed and propped herself up next to her. Peyton shook her head.

"Daddy's gone on a long holiday, I told you that before."

"But how come he doesn't send any postcards or picture? We did that when we went to Spain." Peyton sighed, she knew all the answers to these questions but she couldn't tell her daughter. How was she supposed to tell a four year old that her dad has been in prison? For the reason that he was her mum's teacher, but they loved each other and had something special despite it being illegal.

"I don't know," she said shaking her head. Looking at her bedside clock, Peyton realised that it was 20:30. It wasn't late it was just past Haley's bedtime and she knew that if her daughter wasn't in bed now Haley would be moody all day tomorrow. Pretending to yawn, Peyton looked at her daughter to try and see if she would get the hint.

"Are you tired mummy?" Haley asked as she watched her mother yawning and stretching, obviously not realising she was pretending. Peyton nodded as Haley gave her a kiss on the cheek and padded back to her room.

Waiting until a sound of a closing door could be heard; Peyton picked up the phone and dialled her best friend's number. They had known each other for almost ten years and stuck together through thick and thin. Both 21 Peyton and Nathan had made big plans, when they were in senior school, to accomplish together. However, when Peyton had found out she was pregnant; Nathan had been forced to follow through with their plans alone. He had blamed Peyton for having a baby at such a young age but then had always supported her from the first day that Lucas and Peyton had been exposed to their family and friends and to everyone around them.

Pressing the phone against her ear she listened to the monotonous ringing. Waiting for someone to answer the phone, she shuffled about on her bed. She needed someone to talk to, someone she knew and that she could trust. There was a click before someone answered. An American accent could be heard as Nathan spoke down the receiver.

"It's me," she whispered not wanting the rest of the family to know she was on the phone. "Are you alone?"

Nathan guessed that she wanted to talk to her about something important, "Umm…Mum and Dad have just gone out so it's only me."

"I'll be over in a minute," she replied and hung up without saying 'bye'. Placing the letter in her back pocket, she walked over to her mirror to make sure that she looked okay, before making her way 2 doors down to 32 Houlton Road. Leaving her mobile on the dresser, she made her way out of her bedroom. Walking past the sitting room she called to her family that she was going to see Nathan. They acknowledged her and continued with whatever it was they were doing.

It was warm outside, but a slight breeze caused goose bumps to appear on Peyton's bare arms. She walked down the usually busy street. Everyone knew everyone on Houlton Road; it was nice but sometimes annoying. The door was open as Peyton pushed it and made her way inside. The house was warm and cosy, Nathan was curled sitting on the sofa. He looked up when the door creaked open.

Running over to hug his best friend, he tried to remember the days when they couldn't go an hour without talking to each other. He tried to remember the last time He had seen Peyton genuinely happy and laughing with her friends. He brought her over to sit on the sofa

"I'm sorry," Peyton whispered.

"Sorry about what?" Nathan responded. Peyton was trembling like a young child, the child she had never been. She had always been ahead of her class, both by maturity and intelligence. Not because she wanted to, but because she had to. When Ryan and Peyton's parents died, she had been forced to take on the motherly role for Ryan, just because he never talked to anyone else apart from her.

"For everything," she responded in a whisper. "For making you lie, being horrible to you when you were just trying to help, for spoiling our plans and for falling in-," she broke off. She couldn't bear to say it, the word that used to role of her tongue so easily. She couldn't say the word love. Pulling out the letter from her pocket she handed it over to Nathan with ease. Nevertheless, her hands shook in the process, just like they had been when she had held the positive pregnancy test in the damp, dingy school toilets that week before Lucas's hearing. She heard the name, "Lucas" escape from Nathan's mouth, as she kept her eyes fixated on the now crumpled piece of paper.

She heard Nathan gasp, "The 1st is next week," she said as Peyton nodded her head slowly in acknowledgment. Peyton could feel tears begin to form in her eyes.

"It's her birthday that day," she stated. "August 1st is her 5th birthday." Peyton suddenly felt an urge to tell her best friend everything, all that she had hidden from her six years ago, but even events that Nathan already knew. She looked over at her best friend, whose head was turned away, not wanting to hear about the illicit relationship. Peyton's eyes were filling up with tears as she stared at the blank wall reciting and telling Nathan things that had seemed like a lifetime ago. She froze as she saw a disgusted look appear on Nathan's face. She knew that her best friend was now going to hate her, she did care she honestly did, but what she cared about most was getting Lucas back to prove to everyone that their love was pure and that he didn't abuse his power, like everyone was so sure he had.

"It's alright," Nathan reassured her, promising his weeping best friend that he didn't and would never hate her and that thing would be all right. Nevertheless, as usual Peyton would not listen.

"It's not alright!" she yelled. "Don't you get it? Lucas is coming back on _her_ birthday! She doesn't know about him and he doesn't know about her! What am I going to do? Everyone already hates him, and his four year old idolises him without even knowing who he is." Weeping as she slid off the sofa, Peyton hugged her knees as she closed her eyes and prayed that something would happen.


	3. FlashBack 2

**A few weeks later...**

**_FLASHBACK_**

_The evening before had been a blur, but all she could remember was the warmth of Lucas's body in and around her. She checked her watch; it was 8:00am. She was late for school. The house was empty, her brother had left over half an hour ago and so had all of her friends who lived on their road. Grasping the single pearl drop that lay around her neck, brought back fond memories. From when he placed it around her neck using a single sliver thread, to when they kissed, to when they touched each other so intimately that Peyton was getting shivers just thinking about it, now. _

_It was 8:45am by the time she strolled into school. Morning registration had just ended, as she walked into her form room for History. She could hear her name being called for roll call._

_"Sawyer, Peyton? Where is Peyton Sawyer? Is she in school today?" It wasn't her usual history teacher calling her name. It was a man's voice, a familiar voice, a curious voice. _

_She put her head down as she walked towards her place, next to Nathan, trying not to get caught by the teacher. _

_"Excuse me miss?" came the familiar voice. "Can you please come up to my desk and tell me your name and the reason for you being late."_

_Still keeping her head down she walked towards the desk, thinking where she had heard the voice. She looked up. "Lucas?" she choked. She said it quietly so that nobody could hear._

_"Peyton?" he hissed. His face was in utter shock. _

_Peyton had to think on her feet fast, "I'm sorry I am late sir, I was out last night and did not return home until quite late." Which was true and surely Lucas knew that. He saw the pearl hanging out from her under her shirt. His eyes fixated on it. She followed his eyes, realizing what he was looking at; she quickly hid it back under her shirt._

_"What is your name?" he asked, pretending that he didn't know._

_"Peyton, sir," she paused. "Peyton Sawyer." This reminded her of when she first introduced herself to him._

_"You're the missing Peyton Sawyer," he commented, marking her in the register. "Well, I'm Mr Scott and I shall be taking you for History until the summer whilst Ms Stasey is on maternity leave, as I'm sure you're already aware." _

_Peyton wasn't sure whether she wanted to smile or cry. On one hand she got to see Lucas everyday, but on the other hand he had found out about all her lies and may never want to see her again. He motioned for her to go back to her place. As she turned a tear began to form in her eye, she quickly wiped it away before Ryan or Nathan noticed anything was up. She placed herself next to Nathan, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the classroom._

_At the end of the double lesson Lucas called her up to the front desk again._

_"Do you want me to stay?" asked Nathan. He was so sweet and kind-hearted, she hated lying to him, but she didn't have a choice. She shook her head as she made her way towards Lucas._

_"I can't believe you lied to me!" he exclaimed angrily, once the classroom was empty. She could see the anger beginning to boil up from inside of him, she shrank back in fear. "You told me that you were 19 and that you went to university. I cannot believe I trusted you," he paused as he turned away from her he couldn't bare to look at her. "What about last night? What about the club I took you to? You knew it was an over 18 club and you didn't say anything! Did you have any alcohol?" Peyton stayed quiet avoiding the questions that he kept firing at her._

_"Answer me!" he yelled, a little too loudly as faces began to appear in the glass of the door. _

_The second bell rang, for end of changeover, as Peyton scuttled out of the classroom trying hard not to cry. She ran to her locker and ripped out the note that Lucas had written to her a few days ago. She walked back into the classroom, luckily it was empty, and placed it in his top draw. She quickly made her way to biology before anyone noticed that she was late. _

**_END OF FLASHBACK_**


	4. Reality 2

The next morning Peyton woke up, in her own bed, with a splitting headache and sore, puffy eyes. She couldn't remember how she had gotten back. Nonetheless she lay in bed listening to the sounds of her family, chattering happily. She could hear Ryan and Brooke getting Haley dressed and ready. What was wrong with her? Why wasn't she a good mother to her own daughter? Did she resent her daughter because she was hers? On the other hand, was it that every time she looked at her she saw Lucas staring back at her? Refusing to get out of bed, Peyton buried her head down under the covers. She wanted to be a child again, her long blonde ringlets flying as she laughed and played with her mother and father, got teased by her big brother Ryan and cooed over her baby sister Haley. She just wished she could have stayed a child, so she would not have to have heard all the horrible things that she had. "I'm sorry they are dead." Or "It's positive." On the other hand, none of them were dreadful than three simple words that were constantly ringing in her ears, "I LOVE YOU!" As Peyton tried to hide herself from the outside world she was unsuccessful because she heard a knock on her bedroom door. Ignoring it she covered her ears trying to block out the sound.

The door creaked open as Brooke made her way into the room. "Peyton," she whispered. "There's a phone call for you." Peyton made no movement. "It's from the prison."

On hearing those words Peyton shot out of bed and snatched the phone from Brooke's hands. Ushering Brooke out Peyton pressed the phone to her ear. "Lucas?" she choked.

"Um…no sorry Ma'am, may I be right in saying that I am talking to Miss Peyton Sawyer."

"Yes," she replied sheepishly.

"Well, Miss Sawyer I am Police Constable Kole, from Tree Hill County Court Prison. And I am calling in regards to the offender Mr Lucas Scott."

Peyton cringed, she hated the word offender, and it was such a harsh word to describe Lucas. Neither Lucas nor she had done anything wrong, unless you call falling in love wrong.

"As you know," he continued. "He is being released next week. His probation trial was a few days ago and it was decided that he shall visit his probation officer once a week, for 6 months. We will also be monitoring his whereabouts, over the next 6 months. As you probably already guessed he will not be allowed near Tree Hill High School and he will be required to get a job as soon as possible."

Peyton paused, letting it sink in, "Where will he be living?" she asked. She held her breath hoping for the answer that she wanted, with her or at least near her.

"His residence has not been confirmed yet, but we can let you know as soon as we found out."

"Okay," she said. "Um...can I see him prior to his release?" Despite the fact Peyton knew the answer to this question she still had hopes that she could see him again. She could hear the Constable typing something into the computer.

"I'm sorry," he replied. "Mr Scott has requested the people he wants to see."

"Oh," she replied, tears welling up in her eyes."

"Would you like me to tell him that you wanted to see him?" he replied, hearing the disappointment in her voice.

Thinking for a moment, she paused and then replied, "No, its okay, thank you," she chocked, closing her eyes trying to fight back the tears. With this she hung up the phone. Still in her pyjamas, she walked out of her room and placed the phone in its cradle. Drawing in a deep breath she walked into the living room, where the hustle and bustle of her family was taking place.


	5. FlashBack 3

**A few weeks later....**

**_FLASHBACK_**

_Peyton knocked on the door there was no answer, so she knocked again. Why wasn't he answering? She was about to turn away when the door creaked open. _

_Lucas stood in the doorway his grey eyes glistening like the first snowflake of the season melting. His blonde hair was ruffled just the way he always had it. Since they had first met at the bowling alley, months before, he had never changed his hairstyle. Of course Peyton's had changed many a time. It was now short with golden brown highlights framing her face. She smiled slightly remembering their first meeting and how she had told him she was 19. Later on he had found out her real age, when he started teaching at her school, but by that time it was too late, they were in love. _

_She walked past him carefully avoiding his gaze, as a tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away before he could see. She quickly made sure that nobody saw her go in. Their relationship was forbidden, but they both loved each other immensely, however only recently Peyton began to realise that everything was going to be revealed, to her parents, brother, best friend and the rest of the people they both knew and loved. _

_Peyton sat down avoiding his gaze. _

_"What's wrong?" his voice was kind and genuinely concerned. She took both his hands, still avoiding his gaze. He sat down beside her. _

_"Peyton?" he said. "Come on tell me what's wrong? It's only me!" He was desperate to know. They saw each other all the time, but spending quality time together was a rare thing. School was the hardest, especially because History was her major and he was her History teacher. So they spent almost everyday together, but not alone. Evenings were hard because of homework and marking, so this only left weekends and holidays. _

_Lucas leaned over and tried to kiss her, but she turned away. _

_"Lucas, stop it," she said in a quiet whisper. Sighing she turned towards him. His warm hands were still in hers. "You're going to find this out one way or another, so it's best you find it out now, from me."_

_Lucas looked puzzled. "What are you talking about?"_

_She slowly led his hands towards her stomach; this was the hardest thing she was ever going to have to do. She mumbled something that Lucas couldn't quite hear and she then said it. "Lucas, I'm pregnant!"_

_He tried to keep a straight face. "You're joking right?" he said taking his hands away from hers. She shook her head._

_ "I'm not joking Lucas," A tear trickled down her cheek. _

_"Is it mine?"_

_"Of course it's yours!" she began to fume, "I cannot believe you would think so low of me!"_

_"I'm not! It's just that my career is at stake! Don't you know I could go to jail for this?"_

_"You're career? This is my future! I'm only sixteen Lucas! Think about me!"_

_"Look, I can't handle this right now!"_

_"You can't handle it! Think about what I'm supposed to do? I've got to tell everyone, because they're going to find out soon enough and who do you expect me to tell them the father is?"_

_"Then get rid of it!" _

_Peyton gave a look of horror. "Why would you say that?" Her voice quivering as tears began to well up in her eyes. _

_"Well neither of us wants it!" He got up; he couldn't bear to look at her._

_"Speak for yourself! I am not letting this baby go. I've got no family left except for my brother; I thought I could rely on you!" She walked in front of him. Taking his hands she stared into his eyes. The love that was once there was slowly disappearing. "I get it," she said. "You don't love me anymore. I was just a thing, right?" He shook his head. "Yeah, that's what I was, just another one of your girlfriends to add to your list. Well maybe this time you can add that I love you!" She turned away, but could feel anger beginning to boil inside of her; she just had to say it. "I would never turn against you! I lied to my family and my best friend, just so we could be together. Sure, I could have told the whole world about us being together and that we loved each other, but you know what I didn't." She grabbed hold of the pearl around her neck, "You know what? I bet this was just a way to get me to stay with you." She let go of the necklace and placed her hands on her stomach, "Well, this is the consequence of our actions that I have to pay for!"_

_Lucas stood in complete silence. He had never heard her speak like this, to him or to anyone else. Realising what she had just said; Peyton ran out of the flat crying. Leaving the door wide open she ran towards the lake. _

_She sat on the grass; watching, waiting, crying. Just as she had thought, Nathan was swimming in the lake. He was her best friend and the one she could always rely on. His dark hair was dripping wet as he came and sat next to her._

_"Hey," he said soothingly, wrapping his arms around her. "What's up? I'm here now there's no need to cry." He smiled cheekily; the smile that had always got him out of trouble. Peyton laughed quietly, she leaned her head against his bare shoulder. _

_"Nathan," she said, so quietly she could barely hear herself. "I've done a terrible thing"_

_Turning to face him, she told him all about what she had been doing the past few months, how she had never started a literacy course at the local library and how she'd stayed out all night and come home at ungodly hours of the morning and said that she had been with Nathan all the time. _

_Nathan could not believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. The sun was beating against his back as he shook his head. It was either of disgust or pure shock. He had never seen her act like this; she had always been the schools' brain box and almost got put up a year because of it. Finally when she stopped talking he managed to look at her properly. He had never noticed how much she had changed. She had begun to wear make-up and clothes that showed off her figure. _

_"But that's not the worst of it," she said. _

_"What!" he exclaimed. "That's not the worst of it? You lied to your family, you lied to me, and you broke the law by going out with Mr Scott! And that's not the worst of it? What are you going to tell me now? That you're pregnant?!" Nathan was in frenzy, he had yelled at her so much that she had begun to cry even more, as she slowly nodded her head. _

**_END OF FLASHBACK_**


End file.
